Summer internship in DC

[zogoto]

I got two summer internship offers in Washington DC. One is at a health "think tank," where I would be doing fairly boring work day-to-day (policy research that will be getting written up into a report that no one will probably read...yeah it's sad but true), but the work could tie in very well with my scientific lab research, and is very health-related.

My other offer is working for Congress, promises to be pretty exciting, and my boss promised that I would not be doing any scut work like other Congressional interns. This is also in health policy, but it is much more broad, so it will probably be harder to talk about any specific project I did, so even though it looks more fun, I am worried that it won't be as good for writing about/talking about in interviews or for my career in medicine in general, and will look more like a summer doing administrative work (which is what working for the Congress is known for).

I want to do something fun and exciting, but I'm about to apply this cycle, so I also want to do something that will go over well to an adcom. Does anybody have experience with this?

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[vman51]

People do read those policy reports, just not your average person..personally, the think tank sounds more interesting..

if youre on the hill, you'll most likely be wearing a suit, or a shirt & tie at the least, and the summers in DC can really be rough..but I guess that shouldn't be a deciding factor..

yes, there is a connotation of scut work with interning for Congress..but if youre boss promised you wouldn't be doing that, added with the fact you seemed more excited about that than the think tank, i'd suggest going for that.

Do what you find more interesting..that'll give something to talk about when you interview, and it def shows if youre actually interested in what you did, rather than if you just did it for your resume..

 

[slowbutsteady]

Having had internships on the Hill and in a think tank, I would go for the Hill.

But both jobs will include scut work, no matter how many promises they make to you. You're a kid, just do it. and you will get some fun and interesting stuff on the Hill, too.

Med schools love to hear about these kinds of experiences!!!

 

[beachblonde]

Go for the congressional internship, for sure.

If you're worried about med schools interpreting this as scut work, just make sure in your AMCAS you're very clear about your duties, and then prepare yourself for your interviews so that you can speak clearly about what you did during the summer.

Have fun, either way-sounds like you got yourself some great opportunities.